Two-color ribbon mechanism



Feb. l, 1938. Ml POTTS 2,107,044

TWO-COLOR RIBBON MECHANISM Filed Aug. 5, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,INVENTOR LOUIS M. POTTS ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 1, 1938 UNITED STATES TWO-COLOR RIBBON lWECHANISM Louis M. Potts, Evanston, Ill., assignor to Teletype Corporation, Gliicago, lll., a corporation of Delaware Application August 5, 1936, lSerial No. 94,350,

12 Claims.

This invention pertains to printing telegraph systems and apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for recording in different colors messages transmitted and received.

The principal' object of the invention is to provide, in a combination transmitting and recording apparatus, a simple and inexpensive mechanism responsive to the transmitting apparatus to function differently under conditions of transmission and reception whereby transmitted and received messages will be distinctively recorded.

Another object of the invention is to provide for the oscillation of the inking ribbon capable of printing in distinctive colors to afford visibility of the record irrespective of the positionl of the platen, and to vary, under the control of the transmitting mechanism, the extent of such oscillation.

The above and other objects of the invention are achieved by rendering the ribbon shift mechanism controllable by a cam associated with the keyboard transmitter so that the cam, during message transmission, will govern the shifting of the two color ribbo /mechanism autod matically to effect printing i a certain characteristic and distinctive color. During message reception, the cam remains quiescent and the ribbon shift mechanism is operated to a limited extent only so as to present the portion of the ribbon employed for printing incoming messages. On the other hand, during message transmission, at which time a home record is made, the cam rotates cyclically, and once during each cycle the ribbon is oscillated a greater 35 amount than .during message reception to. present the portion of the ribbon employed for printing outgoing messages.

Specifically, the present invention is arranged to be applied to apparatus such as that disclosed in Patent No. 1,904,164 granted April 18, 1933 to S. Morton et al., which relates to a combination transmitting and receiving apparatus wherein the platen is stationary and the type carriage is movable. The ribbon shift mechanism, according to the invention herein disclosed, is controlled by a supplementary guide bar disposed parallel to the printing bail guide. The supplementary guide is rockable on its longitudinal axis to either of two positions dependent upon the operation or non-operation of the transmitter shaft. The ribbon shift bell crank lever is controlled directly by the pull bar bail in such manner that, each time the pull bar bail is reciprocated to operate a type bar, the ribbon shift y lbell crank lever is rocked so as to raise the ribbon into the path of the oncoming type bar. When the pull bar bail is restored after reciprocation, the ribbon yshift bell crank lever is caused to lower the ribbon out of the path of the type bar to render the printed record visible. In ac- 5 cordance with the present invention, the ribbon shift mechanism has been arranged to render it adaptable to use with a two-color ribbon, wherein the elevation to which the ribbon is shifted by the ribbon shift mechanism is determined by the colored portion of the ribbon from which a record is to be made. It is the function of the supplementary guide to control the amount of elevation of the ribbon, without affecting the visibility of the record after printing. Furthermore, the portion of the ribbon shift bell crank lever which cooperates with the pull bar bail is designed so as to function similarly for printing eitherupper or lower case characters.

A better understanding of the invention may be had from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein .like reference characters designate similar parts throughout the several views, and in which,

Fig. 1 is a simplied circuit diagram of a telegraph system to which the present invention is applicable;

Fig. 2 is'a transverse cross-sectional view of the printer in accordance with said patent in which the device according to the present invention is incorporated;

Fig. 3 is a. cross-sectional view of the transmitting mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the transmitting cam shaft;

Fig. 5 is a fragmental view illustrating one of the operative positions of the device according to the invention;

Fig. 6 is a plan view oi the printer according to the said patent with parts broken away to show the application of the present invention thereto;

Fig. 'I is a fragmentalY cross-sectional viewI taken approximately on line 1-1 of Fig. 6 in which the arrangement according to the present invention is shown in a position for printing lower case characters of an outgoing message,

and

Fig. 8 is a fragmental cross-sectional view simi- 50 lar to Fig. 7 in which the present invention is shown in a position for printing upper case characters of an outgoing message.

Having reference to Fig. 1 which is a simplied diagrammatic view of a telegraph system to 55 which the present invention is applicable, the systemcomprisesaloopcircuit Il interconnecting two .telegraph stations ii and i2 which may have identical equipment. A understood that other stations may be included inthisloopcircuit. Station il issbownascomprising a receiving portion il, including a line relay il, and a transmitting-portion il, including a transmitting cally by the transmitting contacts il. From'this circuit itlwill be seen 'that tbeline relay Il is operated when the transmitting contacts it. at any of the stations included in the loop, are operated. I

'Ihe particular embodiment of the invention shown comprises a printer mechanism such as is shown in U. S. Patent No. 1,904,164, a transmittingmechanismsimilartothatshownin U. B. Patent No. 1.595.472, and a shifting mechanism for the colorribbon particularly adapted for cooperation with these mechanisms.. The unit comprises a base il for mounting of the printer and the keyboard transmitter. 'ihe printer is driven through a mainshaft il, Figs. 2-and 7, and the'transmitter through a main shafti (iiig.4)bothshaf tsbeingdrivenin any desirable manner from a motor (not shown). Referring to -Figs. 2 and 6, the printing apparatus to which the present invention is applied comprises a typing unit (shown generally in section in Fig. 2) which includes a primary selecting mechanism (not shown) controlledby the line relay il and a secondary selector or selector' vane assembly indicated generally as `22. 'I'he selector vane assembly llcontrols, through a series of bell crank levers 28,'a corresponding series of arcuatecode bars Il carried in a movable type carriage. Asset forth in Patent No.

1,904,164, this type-carriage. indicated generally as 2l, is movable longitudinally with respect to a n stationary platen Il, on rollers 21 and cooperable with track members 20 and Il respectively. The type carriage 2l also carries a ribbon supplyand said mechanism indicated gen- A' spacing mechanism (more fully described in Patent No. 1,904,164) is associated with the main shaft il and controls', v'through gears Il and Il, shaft Il,v gear and rack I1 (Pig. 2),

the movement of type carriage 2l to form char- `acter spaces, tending in this movement to wind 'up the carriage return spring mechanism indicated generally as 3l. y

Positioned in operative relation with and parallel to the main operating shaft il is an auxiliary shaft on which are carried various mechanisms, for example, the printing bail 4I and the printing bail operating arm I2. .The printing bailI-I is actuated by a printing spring I8 in proper timed relationin the operative cycle and is controlled by the operating lever l mounted on the shaft Il. One end of lever l! carries a follower roller M which cooperates with a printing bail operating cam 4l carried onshaft il. Attheupperendofleverlliscarriedanadiustable striker Il which cooperates with print- Fbllower. roller u rides on the high part of the c am 4I and in consequence thereof printing bail 4| isheldtotheright (asviewedinll'ig.2) by striker Il on lever Il. Printing bail Il is con-- stantly under the iniiuence of printing spring which tends to rotate ball 4iin a countcrclockwise direction. Therefore, as the printing cam Il revolves it releases lever-'42, thereby allowing atomo I Itmofmle.,

distributor indicated Umbolidrop therein, causing shoulder Il to cooperate withedgellofthepullbarbailllsothat the reciprocation of bail ll, the pull bar actuated to the left to cause. through the and gear relationship'therewith. a to be rotated clockwise sharply llinst the platen Il. -As the type bar Il is operated, the

/inking ribbon Il isautomatically interposed between the type face and platen, and after the printing is completed and the type bar is ,returned to its lmoperated position. the ribbon isagain withdrawn, exposing the printing record to view. The ribbon Il is carried in a ribbon guide member Il which. in turn, is 4carried at the end of the horizontal arm of a ribbon shift bell crank lever Il which is pivoted at llto one end of a lever Il, which in turn is pivoted at O2 to a bracket I3 integral with portion of the framework of the type carriage 2l. Lever Il, between pivotal points l! and l2, is designed to carry aroller Il which is adapted to-have contactual relation with the bottom sideof a rail .I l(carried onthe platen sssemblyll) dus to the action of a spring l1 distended between lever Il and a projection on bracket 0I.

Spring t1 tends to rotate lever .I in a clockwise direction (as viewed in Fig. 2) about pivot 62 so that when the platen II is reciprocated be- Il will constantly remain in contact with the rail and lever Il will thus be automatically reciprocated vertically therewith.

The depending arm of lever Il is operably associatedwiththepullbarbailllsothatthe reciprocative motion of bail Il will cause the oscilla'tion of bell crank lever Il about fulcrum Il `whether the platen Il be in its letters or ilgures'fpositiom Thus,.it will be noted that when bail Il is in its normal position (shown in l'ig. 2), the bell crank Il will hold the ribbon Il, by reason of guide l1, inits down or lower position to eiiect visibility f the printed and when bail 4I vmoves toward the left for a printing operation. the ribbon I. will be raised to printing position dus toy the clockwise movement of bell crank lever Il about pivot Il by spring H2.

I n accordance with the present invention, the amountV ci' vertical reciprocation of ribbon guide l1 is varied to compensate fo'll the particular colored portion of the ribbon from which it is are to be printed from the other portion of the ribbon, it is contemplated to control automatically the seagton of the portion of the ribbon used. To e ec' this control of the inking ribbon, a supplementary guide bar is provided which comprises a wing bar 1| which extends between brackets 12 4and 13 mounted on side frames, 14 and 15 respectively of the typing unit. The wing bar 1| is pivotally supported by means of pilot screws 16 and 11 associated with the ends thereof. By means of the wing bar 1| the ribbon shift control mechanism is effective for every carriage spacing position of the type carriage 25. 'I'he wingbar 1| is rockable to 'two effective positions under the control of a cam 18, associated with the transmitting mechanism shown in Fig. 4.

'I'he transmitting mechanism as illustrated in Fig. 3 comprises a series of transmitting contacts I6 which are controlled by a corresponding series of goose-neck levers 19 which in turn are operated by a corresponding series of transmitting cams 8|. Associated with the levers 19 are a set of blocking levers 82 pivoted on a common shaft 83, the lower ends of which are articulated to individual code bars 84 which are permutably settable by means of key levers 85. Upon a predetermined permutable setting of code bars 84 through the instrumentality of code notches thereon, the bars 84 will assume their right or left positions according to the particular key lever operated, which arrangement of the code bars 84 will effect a corresponding position of levers 82 to either prevent or permit, through shoulders 86, the goose-neck 1evers 19 to respond to the cams 8| to control in turn, through thev contacts I1, the transmission of a character code combination corresponding to the key lever-85 depressed. y

As described in Patent No. 1,595,472, the depression of a key lever 85 also effects the release of a throw-out clutch arm 81, whereupon a grab clutch 88 is rendered engageable and operable through the continuously rotating shaft 2| to impart thereby, rotation to cams I6 and a gear 89 through a. single cycle. Associated with the transmitting mechanism and arranged parallel to the shaft 2| is a shaft 9| which carries a gear 92 meshed with gear 89 to impart rotation to shaft 9| and the cam 18 carried thereon. Thus, upon each actuation of key lever 85, Fig. 3, the transmitting shaft 2| is rotated to eect transmission of a code signal, and simultaneously therewith shaft 9| is rotated to control, through cam 18 and a linkage to be presently described, the oscillation of the ribbon 56 to present the desired colored portion thereof to the printing area.

Cooperating withv cam 18 and mounted slidably on bearings 93 and 94 carried on brackets 95 and 96, respectively, is a horizontal bar 91. Mounted on the left end of bar 91 (Fig. 2) is follower roller 98 which cooperates with cam, 18. The right end of bar 91 is provided with a laterally disposed portion 99 'which urges against the lower arm of lever |0| suitably pivoted at |02 in the printer structure. The upper end of lever |0| is forked so as to embrace the lower wing of bar 1|.

The upper wing of bar 1|r cooperates with the forked end of a depending arm of bell crank member |04 pivotally carried at |05 by the type of a spring |03.

carriage 25. It is thus observed that bell crank |04 is movable with the carriage 25 and is slidably articulated to the wing bar 1|. The horizontal arm of bell crank |04 cooperates with a .laterally disposed projection |09 (Fig. 6), of a lever |01 pivotally mounted at |09 on the type carriage 25. Lever |01 rests upon the bell crank |04 due to gravity, or it may be spring actuated.

When the wing bar 1| assumes its counterclockwise position, as shown in Fig. 2, the bell crank |04 acts tohold the projection |06 of lever |01 in the path of laterally disposed projection 09 of projection on the ribbon shift bell crank lever 58.y With this particular arrangement of levers 04 and |01 and wing bar 1|, the reciprocation of pull bar bail 49 during a printing operation will permit bell crank lever 58 to move clockwise a limited amount (Fig. 2) under the action of its spring ||2, or until projection |09 is arrested by projection |06 (Fig. 6), this movement being sufficientl to raise the ribbon 56 sothat its upper color area is presented for printing. The foregoing is the organization of parts for printing incoming messages in the lower case or letters position.

In order toprint incoming messages in the upper case or figures position. the platen assembly 26 is caused to rock in a clockwise direction by means of a pull rod ||3, Fig. 2, in a l manner described in Patent No. 1,904,164. When the platen assembly is so actuated, the roller 65 is caused to remain in contact with therail 66 by means of spring 81, which causes lever 6| to rotate clockwise to raise the pivot 59, thus raising the bell crank lever 58 a corresponding amount to bring the projection ||4 into alignment with the projection |06 ofl lever |01, as shown in Fig. 8. It is thus seen that the same limited clockwise movement of bell crank lever 58 is obtained in either the upper or lower case position of the platen for printing incoming messages on the lupper portion of inking ribbon 56.

Having reference again to Figs. 2 and 6, the wing bar 1| carries a shouldered arm ||5 which cooperates in a manner hereinafter described with a latch ||6 suitably pivoted at |1 in the printer frame. Upon rotation of face cam 18, during the transmission and printing of outgoing messages, the follower roller 98 will ride up ontothe high portion thereof, whereby bar 91 will be actuated rightwardly against the action The rlghtward movement o f bar 91 will impart counterclockwise movement to lever |0| against the action of its spring ||8 which in turn will cause wing bar 1| to rock clockwise to the position shown in Fig. 7, thus bringing the projection ||5 into a position to be Alatched up by the latch portion ||6, a spring ||9 acting to bring the latch ||6 into latching engagement with the shouldered portion ||5. As shown in Fig. 5, the actuation of wing bar 1| to its clockwise position causes bell crank |04 to be rocked counterclockwise so that its horizontal arm is lowered sufliciently to permit projection |06 on lever |01 to escape the'projecton |09 on lever 58. Thus, when the pull bar bail 49 is actuated leftwardly, the ribbon shift bell crank lever 58 will be permitted to rotate clockwise under vthe action of its spring ||2 a greater amount (than when it was blocked by projection |06) as shown in Fig. 7, so that the lower colored area of ribbon 56 may be presented to the printing position for recording outgoing messages.

To print outgoing messages in the upper case llever-ll'ini'.oiihepositic'rislmvwniriFigJsoiihatkwhenthelefvera'llland Illarecaussdtoassume `spring lil on lever III.

theirrespeetivepoaitions,asshowninll'lg.'l,by

. It f basbeenactuatedtoitsclockwisepositiomithas become atched in that position by the cooperation 4of latch III withshouldered portion lll. By

nismis elective upon the return of the printing bail Il to its normal non-operated position to unlatch the member HI irom'the shoulderedportion III to permit the wingbar 1I toassume its counterclockwise position due to the action ot 'shown in Fig. 2, and when printing bail 4| is actuated to its counter-clockwise position, shoulder |23 is brought into eilective cooperative relationwitharm I24,asshowninl'lg.7,sothat whentheprintingbailllisagainreturnedtoits III to become disengaged from the portion III to free thewingbarl'ltopermitits response through lever ill, to spring Ill. stantially concurrently therewith, lever |22 is denectedbypinorstud III soastoeii'ectthe disengagement ot shoulder |28 from depending arm |24 (Fig. 7).

General operation During the reception of incoming 1 the transmitting mechanism shown in Pigs. 3 and 4 remains idle and the follower roller Il resides in the lower portion oi'l thelace cam 'Il thus permitting lever III, through its spring ill, tohoidthewingbarll inihcounterclockwise positionssahowninll'igaandl. Uponreceipt o! a code signal, therotation oi'the main shaft Ilisinitiatedinpropertimedrelation with the operation ofthe selectormechanism, as fully described in Patent No. 1,904,164. "nie rotation ofshaft I! causes,throughcam4landoperating ann42,theprintingbail4i tobeoscillatedto cause, through' pull'bar bail Il, the operation of atypebarllto eilectprintingonthe upperportion ci the'inking ribbon It. Because oi' the act that, although the movement of the ribbon u bellcrankleverlliisgovernedbythemovement 'iection Iller ill (dependingy upon ToeRectthisdisen-- saluto otiullbarbail4l,nevsrtheless,thsamo\mt movement olleverlliscontrolled the I and Ill which latel'llportion III toblockthemovementoileverllthroughitsprowhether' reaponsetoeachoperationorakeylevertland:

correspondingly. cyclicy movement is imparted through sears Il and I2 (Fig. 4) tothe iace'cam 1I. thus for each cycle oi rotation ot cam Il the wingbar'llisrockedthro'ughtheinstrumentality oi'barll andlever Ill.wingbar`|l beinglatched 4 in its clockwise position untilthe printing oi the character has been eil'ected, whereupon it isunlatched by the lever I!! carried on the printing bauu. mrkingortnewmgbar-il'm clockwise position each time a .key lever is depressed and a character is transmitted causes, through lever I, the shitting of the end or portion- Il. from its blocking position to permit,

through the escapement of portion I" or H4, a i'uller movement ci bell crank lever I8 to bring the lower portion of the ribbon It into printing position. f i

It is, oi course, understood that this application is intended to cover not only the speciiic embodiment disclosed but also sumcient changes or modications as come within the spirit ofthe invention or scope o! the following claims.

what is claimed is: n

l. In a telegraphapparatus. a platen, a shittable ribbon carrying mechanism, means to shirt and return the ribbon carrying mechanism'irrespective of the podtio of the platen to reveal the recordat the point of printing aftereach printing operation, transmitting means, and means controlled by said transmitting means to vary the degree of shifting oi the ribbon carrying mechanism.

2. In a telegraph apparatus. a movable type carriage, ribbon carrying mechanism mounted on said carriage, means for shifting said ribbon, transmitting means, and means cooperating with said carriage and controlled by said ltransmitting means to cause'said ribbon shitting means to operate diii'erently when said transmitting means is operative than when said transmitting means is inoperative.

8. In a telegraphsystem. a-telegraph line, a plurality of stations each comprising a transmitting portion for sending outgoing signals over said linev and a receiving portion for producing a characteristic record of said outgoing as well as incoming signals, a carriage in each receiving portion movable to form character spaces, a rock- -able guide member arranged parallelly to the path of movement oi' said can-lage, means associated with said transmitting portion to control the degree oi' movement of said guide, and means controlled by said guide for making the record oi said outgoing and incoming signals characteristically diilerent.

4. In a telegraph apparatus, sending means, receiving means, a carriage movable in accordancewithcharacterspaces,arockableguide memberarrangeciparalleltothepathotmove-A ment oi said carriage, means associated with said sending means to control the rockability ofsaid guide, and means continued by said guide for makingtherecords governedbysaidsending" means and said receiving means distinguishable from one another.

5. In a recorder, a movable type carriage, a ribbon carrying means mounted on said carriage, an intermittently operable member mounted on said carriage and adapted to perform the recording operations, means cooperating with said member to effect oscillation of said ribbon to provide visibility of the record as it is made, and means effective under certain predetermined conditions to vary the extent of oscillation of the ribbon.

6. In a recorder, a movable type carriage, a ribbon carrying means mounted on said carriage, an intermittently operable member mounted on said carriage and adapted to perform recording operations, a shiftable platen, means to render said iirst mentioned means shiftable with said platen to maintain its cooperative relation therewith, means cooperating with said member to effect oscillation of the ribbon to provide visibility of the record as -it is made in either the shift or unshift positions of said platen, and means effective in either position of said platen to vary the extent of oscillation of the ribbon.

'7. In a recorder, a movable type carriage, mechanism in said carriage for effecting recording operations, a platen, shift mechanism for controlling said platen, ribbon carrying mechanism mounted on said carriage, means mounted on said carriage to perform recording operations, means cooperating simultaneously with said recording mechanism and said platen to eiIect oscillation of said ribbon irrespective of the position of said platen to provide visibility of the record as it is made, land means' effective under certain operating conditions to vary the extent of oscillation of the ribbon.

8. In a telegraph apparatus, a platen, ribbon carrying mechanism, means to effect oscillation of the ribbon carrying mechanism irrespective of' to provide visibility ofthe record, transmitting means, and means conthe position of the platen trolled-by said transmitting means to vvary the am of oscillation of the ribbon carrying mecha 9. In a telegraph apparatus, a transmitting device. a recording device, a ribbon operating mechanism, a device to alter the operation of the ribbon operating mechanism, means operated-by the transmitting device to condition the ribbon operating mechanism for altered operation, and means eiective after each recording operation to return the ribbon mechanism to its original condition.

10. In a telegraph apparatus, printing mechanism, a platen having a plurality of shift positions, ribbon carrying mechanism, means to effect oscillation of the ribbon irrespective of the position of the platen to provide visibility of the record, transmitting means, means controlled by said transmitting means to alter the operation of said first-recited means, means to retain said iirstrecited means in altered position, and means controlled by said printing mechanism to return said first-recited means to its original position.

11. In a telegraph apparatus, a printing bail, a ribbon supporting mechanism, means for moving said mechanism for each printing operation in response to operation of said printing bail, a transmitter, and means operated from the transmitter for causing further movement of said mechanism upon operation of said bail to effect printing in a distinctive color.

12. In a telegraph apparatus, a printing bail, a ribbon supporting mechanism, means for moving said mechanism for each .printing operation in response to movement of the printing bail, a transmitter for transmitting signal impulses, a cam operated in timed relation'to the transmission of signal impulses by said transmitter, and mechanism positioned by said cam for causing said ribbon supporting mechanism to be moved an additional amount on the operation of the printing bail.

LOUIS M. POTIS. 

